Trading Places: Week ending 2/22

GETCO and Knight Capital Group Inc. announced a new management team that will lead the combined company following a merger between the two firms. Notable appointments to the team include Daniel Coleman, current GETCO CEO, who will lead the new firm; Thomas Joyce, Knight Chairman and CEO, who will be the executive chairman of the board of directors; and Steven Bisgay, who will serve as chief financial officer.

Alpari US named Paul Thomas senior vice president of institutional sales in the company’s QuantumFX division. Thomas has more than 16 years of experience in the sector, having worked at banks including Citigroup and BNP.

GFI Group Inc., a provider of wholesale brokerage services, appointed Colin Heffron CEO. Heffron joined the company in 1988 as a broker of foreign currency options in New York, and has served as its president since February 2004.

Spot Trading announced a series of executive appointments, including the promotion of Robert Merrilees to the newly created role of chairman. Merrilees founded Spot in 1999, before which he was the managing director at the proprietary trading firm Stafford Trading. The company also promoted its former CFO Stephen Brodsky to the CEO spot, and named current finance director Robin McInerney to succeed Brodsky as CFO. The changes will take effect on April 1.

CLS, a global forex clearing facility, hired Alexander Filshie as chief financial officer. Filshie comes ot the company from American Express, where he was the international finance controller for Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Canada and Latin America.

The Securities and Exchange Commission appointed Carl Hoecker as its inspector general. Since 2006, Hoecker has served as the first inspector general of the U.S. Capitol Police. His prior work experience also includes a stint at the Treasury Department, where he was a special agent and, later, the deputy assistant inspector general.

President Barack Obamanominated Mary Jo Whiteto be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). White most recently was a partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, where she prosecuted terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. She replaces Elisse Walter, who has served as acting chairman since Mary Schapiro resigned in December.

Jill Sommers will step down as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after the first quarter of 2013, after five years at the agency. In her resignation letter, Sommers said that although “[she] did not always agree with the direction of the agency, [she admires] the fine men and women at the CFTC who work tirelessly to protect the integrity of our financial markets.”

Melissa Andrews was promoted to general counsel of R.J. O’Brien & Associates. Andrews joined the futures brokerage in late 2010 as associate general counsel. Her prior work experience includes stints in the law firms of Hogan Lovells and SNR Denton.

TMX Group Ltd. named Jean Desgagne president and CEO of The Canadian Depository for Securities Ltd. (CDS). Desgagne, who previously was senior vice president for trading risk services at TD Bank Group, will also join TMX Group’s executive management committee and serve as one of its officers.

Standard Chartered named Margaret Harwood-Jones global head, investors & intermediaries, sales, transaction banking. Harwood-Jones joins the bank from BNP Paribas Securities Services, where she served as head of client segments, asset managers and alternative investments. In her new role, she will spearhead the business agenda for institutional investors and intermediary clients.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) appointed Ken Henry as one of its non-executive directors, effective Feb. 1. Henry served as the secretary of Australia’s Department of the Treasury from 2001 to 2011.